Terrible Weekend

I think a dog that bites a child has to be put down... sounds kinda cruel, but i bet you have the dog as protection for the family not just a pet, maybe the dog is stressed about the new pup, so the next thing to do is just take it to a shelter and leave it there, some shelters have rehab programs, some dogs pass the tests and are given to a new family, some of them don't are put down.... anyways the most important thing is your kid to recover completely, thats all that matters....

 

I would wait on that, think how carter feels. Here he is, and then there is "his" boy and now another dog, is very confusing for him right now, and I am not blaming the boy and I fell terrible that this whole incident happened, but you don't know what happened, certainly death is not the answer or even removal, this could be worse on carter because he does not understand. Certainly some ground rules have to be stated, but I think a happy ending can happen. Patience could save carter's live, and we all want that.

 

It could've been an accident. Hell, how many kids get into fights at school or accidently hit someone too hard and we don't put them down?

I mean, seriously, if he didn't maul him or rip an arm off I'd give the dog the benefit of the doubt and keep an eye on him for a while. If it were my kids, I'd put money down on them doing something stupid to the dog. Like stepping on a paw, tail, jumping on her, etc. Everyone has bad days where the slightest poke or insult makes them snap. Shit, I have 4 cats and every one of them will take a swipe at me if I piss them off, or it's a bad day for them. The kids too. When they get scratched we say "well, don't piss off the cat!" Maybe we're bad parents?

With that in mind, my two youngest daughters torment our dog and she doesn't seem to care. I keep waiting for that warning growl or bark, but that only comes with the 3yr old steps on her. And that's more of a shocked sound from the dog. Scares the crap outta the kid, but she learns to watch where she walks. The baby can chew on a paw, poke her cheeks or whatever and the dog could care less. Which is good. But sometimes I think she needs to just snarl at the kids a couple times when they won't leave her alone and aren't listening to us.

 

I agree with both of you and I don't really think a death sentence is the answer. I didn't mention that Carter is not neutered and he's been taking off looking for some ass, and I'm sure some hormones played a role in this incident. But I'm not the only person involved in the decision. My wife wants him put down. Either way it is agreed that the dog will have to go.

 

I disagree with letting home go.Especially without actually witnessing what actually happened. I would keep him around and just observe. But it's your family and your dog so its your decision.

Either way, I'm glad your son is ok.

 

How Carter feels? I'll tell you. He's a pack animal. Toy4Life is the alpha dog of the pack (or he'd better be). Carter attacked the alpha dog's pup. That's grounds for exile from the pack according to a dog's instinctual social rules.

 

I like your use of the word exile.

 

I was just about to post a follow up. But it's poor form to reply to your own post, so thanks for giving me your post

I saw that you said Carter hasn't been neutered and he's out looking for bitches in heat (literally!). That probably does have something to do with this. He thinks he deserves reproductive rights, which in a normal pack only the alpha dog gets. He's challenging your position as alpha dog by attacking your son. If you don't whip his butt or exile him as an alpha dog would, he'll start thinking he's in charge of the household 'pack' because you've abdicated alpha dog status by doing nothing.

If you want to keep him, definitely have him neutered. That alone will take care of most of the problem. And be sure he knows that you're the boss. If you'll learn some dog psychology, you can probably make your house safe for your son again.

 

Carter has been in exile(sort of, since Friday night) at my house. He stays tied out all day and is crate bound at night. His only playmate currently is the puppy. The kids aren't allowed to play with him while he's outside and the kids are in bed asleep when I bring him in for the night. I will not neglect him, but he is also not being treated like a member of the family right now. My wife only tolerated that dog before, now she doesn't interact with him at all.

 

Toy4life, sorry to hear about your weekend & am glad your little boy is doing better. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for you and your family. Wish the best for you!

 

Well, like you said Toy, he isn't neutered. That changes an animal! Cats spray and can be aggressive before getting fixed, then mellow out and stop spraying afterward (usually put on a little weight too.. lol).

Unfortunately, neither you nor your wife saw what happened. For all you know your son was laying with the dog, moved, and pinched Carter or leaned on an arm or paw. Carter may have simply turned his head to yelp/bark in pain/surprise and caught your son's head with his teeth. (I used to have spikes in my ears and a gf that liked to cuddle in bed. I almost took an eye out on more than one occasion moving my head too fast flopping around in bed to get comfortable.)

Have you had any other problems with Carter? Would your wife consider getting him fixed and see if his behavior in general calms down?

I really can't say what I would do in your position since I've only had 2 dogs so far. Both abused rescue animals that never harmed the kids, even with one being food aggressive.

But I also know shit happens. What's gonna happen when your son falls off his bike and breaks his arm? Will your wife want to sell the bike and ban him from riding it? Fall out of a tree, cut the tree down? I know an animal is different, but it's a member of the family (or should be). And you can't get rid of everything that can injure a child. lol I don't leave knives and stuff out, but I don't kid-proof my house either. They know where they aren't supposed to go, and other parts they learn on their own (like touching the hot stove after being yelled at not to).

Just limit the interaction like you are now until both can be trusted not to hurt each other.

This coming from someone with 3 kids, 5 cats, a dog, and a chinchilla. And another step daughter that stepped on the chin and broke his arm. We didn't put him down or beat the child (much as I wanted to....). We took him to the vet, had a split put on, let him heal, and limit the interaction between those two until she can be trusted. (only with an adult watching her hold him at the moment, and let him run loose when there isn't many people around.)

 

hey Chad....sorry to hear about the weekend man. hope your boy does good and all man.

 

Appreciate it Will, but how are you holding up?

 

its tough brotha, i can tell you that much,but we will be ok. gotta have time for grieving and all, but i think we're all still in shock.

 

I understand about alpha dogs as much as the next guy, but "his" environment changed and he doesn't know what to do right now. What if some one moved into your house and started taking over, you would become aggressive or move out, Carter does not have the second option, so he's confused right now, he feeling "leftout" where he used to be "in". In all reality you need to pay more attention to him, spend more time with, allowing him to feel accepted again. In my personal experience, dogs are the only animal that interacts with humans with unconditional love, true loyality. As bad as this situation is, it's us the humans that are "exiling" other members of the family, we find it very convenient to discard or throw away the subject of our problems that we created.

 

I can't believe people are making excuses for the dog, and talking about the dog as if it was a person. Even comparing it to a child who accidentally hits another child too hard?

I've grown up with dogs all of my life. All of them have been rescue animals, all muts, and I've loved every one, including the lab mix I have now. But enough is enough. They are dogs.

The dog took a chunk out of a kid's face. End of story. End of dog.

If there's even a chance that it wasn't an accident, there really is only one choice. If you actually decide to keep him, I hope for your son's sake that you're right about the dog and it never happens again.

Think about how you will feel if you're wrong. Is it really worth it?

 

That's something I was thinking too... Bringing the new puppy into the house takes attention away from Carter. We've been told to watch out for that with cats AND the other kids when we brought a baby home. Went through that once when our 3yr old came home for the first time, and then 2 years later when our 1yr old came home as well. A couple of the cats couldn't care less, but a couple made sure they were always on my wife's lap or following her around. And she almost ALWAYS had one on her belly while pregnant. They knew there was something else that would be getting our attention.

Kids and animals alike can get jealous and territorial when there's a new addition to the family.

 

Very sorry that this happened. Hope that your son will be ok.
Tough decision and not an easy one. Good luck.

 

Bring a new dog into the scenario is very stressful for your animal, as others have said. Without seeing what exactly caused the bite (which could have been many things) its really hard to say what the proper course of action is.

I personally would keep the dog and observe him with your son (of course, I would not leave the two of them alone for some time).